Abstract:

Parliamentary
Capacity Building Program works on upgrading the Parliament staff capabilities
to effectively fulfill their roles to Parliament & MPs through research,
analysis, effective planning, and so on. The Program activities includes
producing a reference manual on Parliament operations & administration,
training workshops, study tours, community panels/thematic forums, extensive
program monitoring & evaluation and more.

Project Goal :

The goal of this project is to develop and
enhance the institutional capability of the Parliament administration, i.e.,
support the staffers in order to provide effective technical and administrative
support.

Target Populations:

The program targets the Parliament staffers, i.e., the
Parliamentary Technical Secretariat which consists of civil servants who
conduct support & administrative services to Parliamentarians, the
Parliamentary Research Center, the Technical Office of the Secretary General,
the Information Center of the Parliament, and the Parliamentary library.

The program will not be limited to these support staff only;
others are welcome to join but preference will be given to the aforementioned
information and research-related departments and committees.

Program Activities :

A. Introductory Workshops:

Through a series of six general training
workshops, the program will build the capacity of the Parliament support staff
to enable them to perform effectively in their roles & responsibilities; to offer better
technical and administrative assistance to MPs.

Topics of the
training workshops will include, but are not limited to, the following:

Case studies and
comparative analysis of other regional and international Parliaments and their
administration.

Role of members of
Parliament.

Parliamentary
procedures.

Legal and legislative
issues.

Drafting and
defending legislation.

Egyptian &
International Civil Society.

Report writing.

Policy analysis &
research.

Presentation &
public speaking.

Comparative
legislative analysis.

Committee operation.

B.Advanced Workshops :

In addition to
introductory workshops, the program will hold advanced training workshops
covering specialized material geared toward specific participant groups. Some workshops will be issue-specific, and some
workshops will take an in-depth look at technical or specialized skills.

Further, some special workshops or field visits
will introduce participants to activities going on outside of Parliament, so as
to engage with and learn more about civil society, youth, and citizens’
struggles and experiences.

C. Applied Learning:

1- Study tours :

Aim to foster
bi-lateral relationships between Parliaments and their administration, expand
the experience of participants by exposing them to different systems and
governments, learn about Parliament strengthening processes in countries that
have undergone similar political transformations, and more.

2- Community Panels
& Thematic Forums:

Seek to improve mechanisms for interaction
between Parliaments, other actors in the policy-making process, and civil
society, there will be monthly topic-specific citizen-led and/or civil
society-led panel discussions throughout the duration of the proposed program.
These events will open channels to citizen interaction with Parliament, engage
community & civil society stakeholders in policy analysis, and encourage
public dialogue of policy- and Parliament- related topics.

D. Creation of Parliamentary Manual

A programmatic and
reference manual for participants will be developed and produced. The manual
will act as a basic guide to all participants, as well as additional support
staff who do not attend trainings. The manual topics will be specialized in
relation to the aforementioned needs assessment but will likely include, and is
not limited to, the following:

Overview of
Parliamentary procedure & bylaws

Overview of
Parliament administration rules & responsibilities

The Egyptian Budget

The Egyptian
Political System

Role of the sector
specific committees

Powers of the
President of the Republic

Process of drafting
legislation

Case studies and/or
comparative analysis of other Arab, regional or international Parliaments